痴补苍肠辞耻惫别谤鈥檚 鈥檚 production of Giselle, is local dancer Kyla Couper鈥檚 chance to dive into a full-length ballet.

Couper, a 19-year-old North Delta resident, has been in ballet since she was four, first dancing at the 性视界传媒 Dance Centre, and then moving to the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. Giselle will be her first full-length ballet production other than the Nutcracker.

Couper moved to New York at 15, when her 性视界传媒 studio closed, and for two years took her Burnsview Secondary School courses online. After she graduated high school, she stayed for another year in New York before joining Coastal City Ballet.

It鈥檚 all in pursuit of a dream many little girls have, but few pursue: to be a ballerina.

Couper鈥檚 grandmother took her to see the Nutcracker when she was eight.

鈥淚 remember sitting in the audience and looking at the costumes, and how happy everyone looked on stage,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I knew that I wanted to be a ballet dancer.鈥�

In this ballet, Couper will be performing in a different role for each act of the ballet: a peasant woman and a ghostly Scandinavian nymph known as a wili.

鈥淣othing is stressful in our lives and we鈥檙e just really happy people,鈥� Couper said about the first act. 鈥淎nd then in the second act, we鈥檙e supposed to be wilis, which are like ghosts.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 portray any emotion, so it鈥檚 like really big contrast between the first and the second act.鈥�

The ballet takes place in a medieval Rhineland village and follows the story of Giselle, a beautiful maiden who falls in love with a duke in disguise. When Giselle discovers the duke is engaged to another woman at the end of the first act, she falls into madness and dies.

In the second act, Giselle becomes one of the wilis. The queen of the wilis attempts to use Giselle鈥檚 dancing to lure the duke to his death. Their love prevails, and the duke does not die, but Giselle fades away.

The Coastal City Ballet鈥檚 performance of Giselle debuted at the Vancouver Playhouse on May 19. The next performance will be at the 性视界传媒 Arts Centre on June 9 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available online at .